Anne Bucher  |  March 26, 2014

Category: Consumer News

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Nest Thermostat class action lawsuitNest Labs Inc., a unit of Google Inc., has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging its revolutionary thermostat that can be remotely controlled from smartphones and tablets fails to accurately gauge and control temperature.

Plaintiff Justin Darisse filed his complaint Tuesday in California federal court. According to the class action lawsuit, the Nest Learning Thermostat is a “sleek ‘new generation’ thermostat that was supposed to revolutionize thermostats, not unlike the iPod revolutionized music playing devices.” While the device is aesthetically “cool,” it “fails at even the most basic function of a thermostat: accurately gauging and controlling temperature.”

Darisse claims that he purchased the Nest thermostat in the fall of 2013 for about $249.99 from Amazon.com after reading product reviews and promotional materials that promised accurate temperature readings and energy savings. Based on these representations, Darisse says he paid a substantial premium for the product over the price of traditional thermostats.

“Defendant’s marketing conveys a simple message: Nest saves money,” the class action lawsuit says. Nest’s advertising materials stressed the importance of controlling ambient temperature to create long-term energy and cost savings. Darisse points to numerous marketing materials that portray Nest as an effective way to save money on energy costs. These materials tout the device’s energy-saving features, including its ability to learn about users’ preferences, be controlled remotely from a mobile device, and shut down when people are away.

However, Darisse insists that Nest’s marketing campaign consists of false statements designed to convince people to pay a premium for their defective thermostat. “Contrary to Defendant’s colorful advertising campaign, Nest does not accurately read temperature and, as a result, does not save energy or decrease energy bills,” the class action lawsuit says.

The class action lawsuit alleges that despite the defendant’s assertions that Nest will lead to energy savings, the device actually increases energy use because it cannot correctly gauge a room’s ambient temperature. “Nest’s base and faceplate heat up, which causes Nest’s temperature reading to be from two to ten degrees higher than the actual ambient temperature in the surrounding room,” the class action lawsuit says. “This defect prevents the thermostat from working properly. As a result, Nest users do not experience the advertised energy savings.”

Darisse says he would not have purchased Nest if he had known that the product was unable to perform basic functions of a thermostat. He also points to numerous reports from Nest customers who have similarly reported inaccurate readings that lead to increased energy use. By filing the class action lawsuit, Darisse seeks to represent a class of all persons in the United States who purchased Nest Thermostats for personal or household use.

The class action lawsuit alleges breach of express and implied warranty, breach of the implied warranty of merchantability, violations of California’s false advertising law and other claims. Darisse seeks compensatory and punitive damages, injunctive relief, restitution, and all other relief the court deems proper.

Darisse is represented by Scott A. Bursor, L.Timothy Fisher, Annick M. Persinger and Yeremey O. Krivoshey of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Nest Thermostat False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Darisse v. Nest Labs Inc., Case No. 5:14-cv-01363, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Aug. 15, 2016, claims over a high-tech home thermostat made by Google subsidiary Nest Labs Inc. cannot proceed as a class action lawsuit, following a federal judge’s denial of the plaintiff’s motion for class certification.

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7 thoughts onClass Action Lawsuit: Nest’s ‘New Generation’ Thermostat Is Defective

  1. Denise LeVert says:

    My google nest is horrible. My power bill has nearly doubled. I have to constantly turn my unit off completely in order to get it to stop working. I am awake at night due to either over heating or over cooling issues. I will HAVE to replace this junk.

  2. Deborah Obrecht says:

    We had severe damage to our home where the thermostat heated our house to 137 degrees and used a full tank of propane in one month. I thought propane had accidentally sent us a second quarterly bill in error.
    Tried to reach Nest tech staff and was bounced around. Finally texted a senior tech representative – then we we told them the damage – never could reach person again- no phone numbers to call. My nest phone app read temperature to be 62 degrees. The propane company came to see if our tank had a leak. We gave them a key for access- our thermostat as previously stated read 137 degrees. The person couldn’t even walk inside it was hotter than a sauna!
    Switched to Honeywell.
    Talking with furnace contractors- they all use Honeywell and did not recommend Nest thermostat. This happened in May of 2020. We switched to Honeywell thermostat and are very satisfied.
    Still trying to recover from the interior damage. Never heard from Nest!

  3. Diana Lee says:

    This is a piece of GARBAGE! I’m so sick of this thing. It’s now costing me money instead of savings me money. I’m changing it out to another thermostat. This is garbage material.

  4. Martin P Pedigo says:

    Well ain’t that just dandy, I have a nest and its just a fancy hunk of junk. I agree it can’t read the temp correctly, It will say its 77 degree’s I can turn it 4 clicks/lowering it. It reads 77 still then it will pop up and say it will reach that temp in 2+ hours. How can that be if its reads 77 as the currant temp and then turn it just 4 click/spin of housing to lower it and it shows that it set to 77. then in 2 + hours it will reach the new setting of 77 and it will reach that temp in 2 + hours. OK I”M STUPID 77 degrees that the current temp will be even colder in 2 + hours when it reaches 77 degrees. Temp of 77 in my world is still 77 no mater what, why would it need 2+ hours to reach 77 when it already set to 77 and shows its reached the set temp. I haven’t tried all my features on mine as well….. got it start of summer, so no I have not used it to heat my house yet. What gets me is that once it reaches the set temp, air conditioner never shuts off just keeps blowing more cold air till you shut down your air conditioner/ Turn off the nest. More investigaion needs to be done on the Nest, then they need to be hit harder with a class action lawsuit. Also one more thing its been 5 months still waiting for my rebate to be mailed.

  5. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE: On Aug. 15, 2016, claims over a high-tech home thermostat made by Google subsidiary Nest Labs Inc. cannot proceed as a class action lawsuit, following a federal judge’s denial of the plaintiff’s motion for class certification.

  6. Kerry Boeneke says:

    This is ironic…….I have two Nests in our home for a little over a year and while I’m pleased with the tech side…temperatures in my home have varied widely compared to the programable Honeywell thermostats they replaced. Just last month I had an AC repair service give me an estimate to move both thermostats to where we sleep and spend most of the day and I put it off because that would be another $300 expense. Currently the thermostats are over the return air vents which is where most are located. But…the theory of the metal housing retaining heat and affecting the Nests ability to measure ambient air temperature does make sense. Now I’m even questioning the effectiveness of the product. Hummmmm

    Count me in……….

  7. Marilynn Reeves says:

    Add my name to the lawsuit. Not too funny to pay $250 for something that does not work as well as your $40 one.

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